Pink Peony Flowers

Somebody has been going through the sewing box and got distracted. Blowsy pink peonies are stuffed into a little zinc bucket with GARDEN stamped on the front, and beside them an old white mantel clock hangs from its curly iron stand, its face gone soft and yellow with age.

The table is a lovely muddle: wooden cotton reels wound with cream lace, a thimble painted with roses, a length of ribbon trailing off the edge, and a white birdcage keeping watch at the far end.